Unkle, Big Day Out Sydney 2008

Denne weekend er "Australia Day Weekend", hvor australienerne fejrer landets fødselsdag (Captain Cook ankom i januar 1788). Vi tog til den årlige Big Day Out i Sydney Olympic Park. Det er aussie-udgaven af Roskildefestival, men som navnet antyder, er det kun en enkelt dag med primært uskadelig rock musik. Vi havde fået fat i nogle ret dyre billetter på det sorte marked.


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"It's right outside your door now testify." Rage Against the Machine broke up in 2000 but reformed for a few shows in the US in April '07. Since then they have played at a few festivals but also only in the United States. Now RATM are coming to Sydney on 22 January 2008. It is exactly 10 years since I saw them on the orange stage at the Roskilde Festival. Tickets go on sale tomorrow and probably will sell out in a few minutes. Wish me luck.

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On Saturday I got myself an iPod. When transferring music to your iPod through iTunes it is essential that you have accurate artist names, album titles and genre. Otherwise it's impossible to navigate the iPod and find the music that fits your current mood or any particular track you're after. One quickly realises this when you have 10,000+ tracks on your iPod. You may call me an audiophile or perhaps a rather obsessive id3 tag manic. But I think this is an important point and it's a very real problem to all users of the iPod and with 87+ million units sold this is not just for the nerds. I will give some advice on how to organise your mp3 collection below.



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On Saturday we went to see the Dutch electro heroes Legowelt and Orgue Electronique at Hermann's on Sydney Uni Campus. We arrived around 10 pm and Orgue-El had already started. The deep electro bass sounds poured out from the floor-to-ceiling speakers. This was truly heaven for "Egyptian lovers".


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Last week we went to the Metro in Sydney to see a triple bill gig: Isis, Laura and These Arms Are Snakes. What a night! Laura was the first band and they had already started when we arrived, but fortunately we got the see three or four songs. The music was in line with Isis, although the Melbourne group is not as convincing. These Arms Are Snakes was a huge surprise to us and the rest of the audience. Apparently, a lot of the macho men really hated the energetic lead singer. A guy I met in the restroom was furious--I didn't understand a word he was saying except: "What a cock!"... Snakes is an important alt-rock band in the tradition of Mclusky and The Faint.


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I went to the Tool concert in Sydney on Wednesday January 24th 2007. It took place in the Sydney Entertainment Center which was filled to capacity (10000 seated + 2500 standing). Actually the show was sold out more three months ago, but I got a ticket at a reasonable price on ebay (130 AUD). This was the third time I saw Tool - the other concerts were at the Roskilde Festival in 2002 and 2006 (the picture above shows Maynard in 2006). The concert was more quiet than the Roskilde shows although hits like Schism from Lateralus got the crowd jumping. It was like a two hour session of deep rock n' roll meditation. This was not too surprsing considering the sound of their latest release "10,000 days" and it was the perfect soundtrack to the zen-like artwork to their monumental new album.

I label Tool the founders of Zen Rock.


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"Manowar represents the warrior spirit in heavy metal." This quote is from a TV documentary called Secrets of Steel about the founding fathers of true metal. Manowar is the loudest and hardest working heavy metal band in the world. Since their ground-breaking first album Battle Hymns from 1982 they have released more than 10 albums. Their eagerly-awaited new album will likely set new standards for heavy metal in the 21st century!

The single Sons of Odin was released in October 2006 and features a few tracks from their long-awaited album Gods of War. The album has been delayed due to a motorcycle accident that wounded the lead guitarist Karl Logan in January 2006. Logan is a true manowarrior and we know that he will return and be stronger than ever before. All hail the kings of metal! All hail Manowar!

The gods made heavy metal, and they saw that it was good,
They said to play it louder than hell, and we promised that we would.
When losers say it's over with, we know that it's a lie
The gods made heavy metal, and it's never gonna die!
Manowar in the 1980s.


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My Dying Bride released their new 9th album "A Line of Deathless Kings" in October 2006. MYD are from England where they formed in 1990. Deathless Kings is certainly a masterpiece but perhaps a bit too quiet for the average metal fan. However, if you are after songs about eternal sadness and woe, pain and endless suffering, unfulfilled desires, and impossible dark love this is for you. MYD is the unofficial trademark of doom  metal and on the past three albums since the rather odd "34.788%... Complete" they have refined the music and vocals of Aaron Stainthorpe.

If you are new to MYD I'd instead recommend the "Anti-Diluvian Chronicles" 3CD set from 2005, which really highlights the masters of doom metal. Accept no imitations. This is the darkness you need to bring the light into your life!
My Dying Bride

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In 2006 I attended the Roskilde festival to the 10th time and a great reception was held to celebrate the occation. The best concerts were by Tool and Pink Floyd,where the quality of the sound was incredible. More obscure bands like the metal soundscape artists in the Norwegian band Killl and the melancholy songs of Ms. John Soda made Roskilde 2006 very special. You can read the full description (in Danish) and see additional photos here.


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On Wednesday August 16 I went to see industrial music pioneers Front Line Assembly @ Amager Bio in Copenhagen. The group formed in 1986 but they haven't been to Europe for the past ~7 years. Unfortunately I missed the warm up gig by Stromkern. The venue was pretty full and the crowd were in a good mood. After three-four rather intense songs FLA slowed down a bit and I enjoyed the rest of the concert. The visuals were stunning and worked really well with the live drumming and atmospheric synths. In between the songs vocalist and founding member Bill Leeb commented on the beautiful girls of Denmark, the weather and general small talk. This was of course in great contrast to the rather agressive industrial music that is Front Line Assembly. The tracks from the new album Artificial Soldier were alright, but it was the old tracks that seemed to get people dancing. Great show!


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